Scientizing Food Safety: Resistance, Acquiescence, and Localization in India

Abstract

Since the mid‐1990s, formal scientific risk management has been codified at all levels of food safety governance in affluent states: firm‐level standards, national regulation, and international law. Developing countries' access to affluent importers and power in international standard‐setting fora now hinges on their scientific capacity. This article explores the consequences of these developments in India, which moved quickly from resistance to acquiescence, and then later to mobilization around narratives of scientific risk management's local benefits. The case suggests a two‐stage model of scientization among developing countries: (1) coercive and competitive mechanisms drive adoption of science‐based governance models, and (2) as local actors mobilize to meet foreign demands, they attach their own interests and agendas to science‐based reforms. The outcome is a set of rational myths about the benefits of scientization. The article draws on content analysis of organizational, policy, and news documents and a small set of interviews with highly placed pubic officials and industry representatives.

Food Safety in China: The Structure and Substantive Foci of an Emerging Field of Social Science Research

“…Our search did reveal, however, a number of related, but distinctly different, approaches to food safety research. These included content analyses of food safety incidents (Liu et al 2015) and food traceability (Ringsberg 2014), as well as an analysis of policy, news and organizational documents combined with informal interviews (Epstein 2014). We also found an in-depth analysis of oyster research (Guo et al 2015), and co-citation patterns (Gong et al 2013).…”